Sunny and her babies in February 2007 (click for larger view)
I am a small hobby breeder. I may breed a litter once every three or four years and I primarily breed for myself. I don't have a kennel, so all my dogs live in the house with me. Puppies are born in the dining room and grow up with the sounds of a home surrounding them. I also don't keep a waiting list or take deposits on puppies.
I don't have any puppies available currently but I do have older puppies or adults available from time to time. Check my Available Dogs page.
I am currently planning a litter for sometime in 2009 if all goes well. I have a stud dog picked out for Avery and I'm absolutely in love with him. I also think I've got a stud picked out for Marseille that I'm very impressed with. However, we all know about 'the best laid plans' and there are certainly no guarantees when dealing with breeding dogs!
A Whippet puppy from a good breeder in most areas of the country will run anywhere from around $600-800 in the south to $1500 in New England and California. When I have puppies, they are priced at $800.
Rescues are in the neighborhood of $250-300, but are not often available. You can visit www.whippet-rescue.com for more information about Whippet Rescue and Placement (WRAP).
In the past several years I've been greatly influenced by Sharyn Hutchens (Timbreblue Whippets) concerning the state of cardiac health in the breed and specifically in my own dogs. Sharyn has been the proverbial 'voice crying in the wilderness' about testing our dog's hearts. She has been testing her own dogs, insisting that any stud dog she used be tested and found normal. I find her practices to be very sound and I am following her lead. I submit all the test results for my dogs to OFA (the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals) and they are posted on the OFA web site for each dog and I have a link to each dog's record from their individual web pages.